Rock Climbing at Breakneck Ridge Trail, Hudson Valley New York

For its demanding rock climbing and beautiful view to compensate, Breakneck Ridge Trail is one of the most popular destination for New Yorkers.

Those without cars can even get to this trail by taking the Metro-North Hudson Line to the Cold Spring station and walk north on Route 9D to the trailhead. On weekends and holidays, three trains (two in the morning and one in the early afternoon) stop at the Breakneck Ridge station, a short distance north of the trailhead, making it an ever more popular destination.

The most popular trail loop starts with about one hour of constant steep ascend of challenging rock scrambles to the peak of the mountain and another hour of descend.

When we arrived on Saturday morning, at about 9:30am, cars were filling up. So if you want to hike without too much traffic jam going up, try making to the trail early in the morning.

So far, out of all of the hiking I have done around New York, New Jersey area, Breakneck Ridge trail offered the most steep rock climbing. Be prepared for very demanding, even dangerous in some places, hiking. Make sure that you have good and sturdy footwear.

The view from the top is pretty awesome. Though, in my opinion, Anthony’s Nose, with the view of the bridge and Bear Mountain, is still unbeatable.

Breakneck Ridge trail is definitely a destination for hikers to try. Its one hour of rocky, steep climb is pretty awesome!